Care
by Dannrose
Summary: Where Pavel is ill and the Command Crew look after him.


_**Author's Note:**_

_**Greetings to you all. Here it is the sick Pavel fic I said I was writing. I know an illness like the one in this story proberly doesn't exist but I have next to no medical knowledge, its Star Trek and its fanfiction. I may write a fic about Jim and Pavel's conversation which I mentioned in 'Father To Son' but I want to keep regular updates for 'Unofficial rules' so we shall see.**_

_**I own nothing.**_

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><p><strong>Care<strong>

When he started the day Pavel had felt absolutely fine. He had done his usual morning routine and gone to start his shift. About half an hour into his shift his head started to hurt. He ignored it thinking it would go away but it only got worse. He found himself sweating like mad and he wondered when the room temperature had risen. The room began to rock side to side and his thoughts started to become disjointed and hazy.

"Pavel?"

At Jim's concerned voice, Pavel turned to see him staring at him worriedly. He idly wondered why there were three Jims instead of one then realised that the captain was talking to him but he didn't quite understand what he was saying. Thinking that Jim wanted him to go up to the chair Pavel stood. The room somersaulted around him and he fell face first towards the floor.

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><p>Jim leapt forward as Pavel fell and caught him just before he face-planted. Fortunately Bones had also been on the bridge and was instantly at the kid's side scanning him.<p>

"We need to get him to the Medbay."

At that Jim scooped the boy into his arms and hurried off the bridge his mind whirring as he carried him through the corridors. The change had been rapid, Pavel had looked completely fine for half an hour and then in the space of ten minutes he had started sweating furiously, become exceptionally pale and finally collapsed.

Running into the Medbay, Jim made for the nearest bed and placed the boy on it as Bones ran around grabbing various medicines to try and get Pavel's fever under control. Backing off to give the doctor room to work, Jim prepared himself for a tense wait.

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><p>In a surprisingly short time McCoy had Pavel's fever down and sighing in relief spoke to Jim. "Luckily I know about this illness. It's not fatal if the initial stage is controlled and now the kid is through that we just have to let it run it's course."<p>

"Is that it?"

"I can give him antibiotics but his body is gonna have to do most of the work in fighting it off."

Knowing that Bones would be right Jim went to stand next to the bed. As McCoy went off to fetch a chair, Jim looked at his charge. Pavel still looked very pale and there was the odd bead of sweat on his brow but he was breathing normally and looked to be peacefully asleep. Jim placed a hand in his brow and found it was still a bit warmer than it should be. Bones came back with a chair and placed it next to Pavel's bed and understanding what it was there for Jim sat down. "When will he wake up?"

Having turned to leave Bones looked round at Jim again. "The funny thing with this illness is he won't be properly awake till it's done. He'll be aware of what's around him and may sort of react to it but he won't be visibly awake. He may not even remember what happened while he was ill when he recovers."

Jim took Pavel's hand in his and letting them be McCoy quietly slipped away to his duties.

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><p>The next couple of hours were uneventful as Jim sat with Pavel with the occasional check-up from Bones. Eventually Nyota arrived and smiled at the sight of Jim sitting by the bed holding the boy's hand. She saw Jim look up at her as she came and stood next to him. "Leonard told us what was happening. How is he doing?"<p>

"He's been pretty much the same since Bones got his fever under control."

"You should get back to the bridge."

Jim started to protest. "But what if something happens?"

"I'll be here with him. Don't worry; I'll let you know if anything changes."

Seeing that he was still very reluctant to leave Nyota decided to press him. "Look, McCoy put me up to it. He thinks it will be better if we take turns to keep Pavel company. That way he has someone with him the entire time and we don't wear ourselves out. I'll take good care of him promise."

Understanding her point Jim relented and stood up. "Ok but let me know the moment anything changes."

"I will, now go before Leonard forces you to."

Placing a fatherly kiss on Pavel's forehead Jim then nodded his thanks to Nyota and left the Medbay. She settled herself down on the chair and, keeping an eye on the boy, began to read a book she brought. It wasn't that long after Jim left that Pavel began to become unsettled. Nyota put her book down and watched as he began to move more with his brow creased in a worried frown. He muttered something, whimpered then quietly called out, "Papa?"

Her maternal instincts coming to the fore, she held his hand and began to stroke his hair. Though he calmed a little, he was still unsettled and she began to sing softly. Slowly he calmed down and turned his head in her direction. She smiled and continued to sing.

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><p>Bones was with him during the later part of the afternoon as Nyota had to return to her duties. Thankfully Pavel was really the only patient that was in the Medbay as things had been very quiet recently. Taking the rare opportunity, McCoy settled in the seat by the kid's bed and worked on some paperwork on his PADD.<p>

Nyota had told him about what happened earlier and he assured her that it was expected, Pavel didn't fully understand what was happening and all he knew was that something was wrong. He therefore naturally became distressed when his source of comfort vanished.

Bones had been occasionally speaking to him to let Pavel know he was there and though it calmed him it wasn't long before the boy became unsettled again. Realising that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate on his paperwork this way he made to put down the PADD. He suddenly had an idea that might help Pavel to relax and stay calm. Opening up the library of books his PADD had he searched for one of his favourites since childhood. Finding it he opened it on screen and, clearing his throat, began to read aloud. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…"

He spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening reading 'The Hobbit' to Pavel, complete with different voices for each of the characters and animation in his voice.

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><p>So it went for five days. All the Command Crew took turns to stay with Pavel and take care of him. Hikaru told him tales of mischief, stupidity and accidents from his past, Scotty regaled him with stories from Engineering and around the ship, Nyota sang to him, McCoy read some of his favourite childhood books to him, Spock told him about any new or old scientific theories he had recently come across and Jim spent as much of his time as possible with him, sometimes talking to him about anything that came to mind or just sitting there holding his hand. Finally on the sixth day McCoy declared that Pavel was going to wake up, he said that the boy may feel a bit weak but would be absolutely fine. So when Pavel woke the Command Crew were all there.<p>

He opened his eyes slowly and blinked a couple of times before giving a small smile. "Hello eweryone."

At his words they all gave him different grins, except Spock whose mouth curled up at the corner ever so slightly. Jim spoke up from his position on Pavel's right, "How you feeling?"

"A lot better Papa."

Jim looked at him fondly then spoke again. "Bones said you were sort of aware when you were ill. How much do you remember?"

Pavel gave a bigger smile. "Enough Papa."

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><p><em><strong>PS-I hoped you enjoyed that and please review. If anyone was wondering how my Star Trek stories fit together and in the reboot canon then here is how. This story comes after ST:ID about two weeks before 'Father To Son' and 'Unofficial Rules' starts not long after the Narada and spans the whole thing. So there we are and I should update 'Unofficial Rules' soon.<strong>_


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